The First Raw Wednesday

First off, I can't find batteries for my camera, so pictures are courtesy of my phone. So sad. But I will make sure I have some batteries next time so that my terrible photography is not blamed on the electronics.

Here is the first Raw Wednesday menu!

Green Smoothie: kale, banana, mango, raspberries, blueberries, flax oil, cashew butter.
I've been drinking Green Smoothies (fruit smoothies with spinach or kale in them) for the past year every morning for breakfast. This morning was no different, except that I totally botched it. I didn't blend long enough, so it was not as smooth as I normally like. Oh well, it was still good enough to consume.

Salad: spinach, walnuts, apple, strawberries, red pepper, broccoli, carrots, sprouts, cucumber
That seems a little anti-climactic. I'm not normally big on salads, but I was pressed for time last night and thought, what's more classically raw than a salad? Besides I wanted to try out Gena's Zucchini Dressing (scroll down). Awesome. I wolfed down my salad and felt content all day.

Chocolate Pudding
It turns out that avocado + cacao powder + sweetener = pudding! I've seen a lot of recipes for this, but I just sort of improvised. I used both dates and agave as sweetener, because I'm low on dates and need them for later. I soaked the dates first for a little to soften them, then used the soaking water in the pudding. Here's my recipe, but it'll probably need some tweaking:

Chocolate Pudding
2 Avocados
3 Tbsp Cacao Powder
3 Medjool Dates, soaked 1 hour
1/4 cup soaking water
1 Tbsp Agave

Blend in the food processor until smooth.


It's not terribly sweet, so add more sweetener if you like. I topped it with strawberries, but remembering that I needed coconut milk for my cupcakes, I decided to use up the excess. After measuring and setting aside the cupcake quantity, I took what remained and added a little vanilla, then whipped it up and poured it over the pudding and strawberries. Most definitely a winning combination. Too bad I started eating before I got any good pictures. You'll have to cope with what I did get on my phone.

What's For Dinner Loaf
This is from The Complete Book of Raw Food. Super easy to put together and really flavorful! I used a shallot and some green onions because both the organic market and I were out of red onions. Oh well, delicious and very filling nonetheless. I had more salad to go with it.

Vanilla Cookie Cupcakes
I bought Shannon Marie's cupcake e-book last week, but this was my first attempt at using it. I went for the classic Vanilla Cookie Cupcakes and I Am Grateful Frosting. They were easy to put together and taste amazing! I won't go so far as to call them healthy, but if you're trying to cut out the refined flours and sugars and have a serious sweet-tooth, these could be a lifesaver.

I don't have the adorable silicone cups, so mine had to go into ramekins. They look a lot less sweet and fresh, but they have lids, so I can take one for lunch at work tomorrow. Besides, they're smaller and I was able to form four cupcakes instead of two. I halved the frosting amount, and still have plenty of extra, so it'll hang out in the freezer until next time.

I was afraid I wouldn't be full enough today eating raw, but I was fine. I brought carrots, broccoli, and celery to munch on throughout the day, but didn't need all I brought. Overall I'm really happy with the way it went and already have a long list of recipes for upcoming weeks.